Former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (L) speaks with staff during a visit to Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vigilant, one of the UK’s four nuclear warhead-carrying submarines at HM Naval Base Clyde, Faslane, west of Glasgow, Scotland on April 29, 2019. – A tour of the submarine was arranged to mark fifty years of the continuous, at sea nuclear deterrent. (Photo by James Glossop / POOL / AFP)
Gavin Williamson: Sacked UK Minister accused of “plotting to invade Africa”
After his controversial sacking from the British cabinet, Gavin Williamson has since been called-out for allegedly “finding excuses” to send troops to Africa.
Former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (L) speaks with staff during a visit to Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vigilant, one of the UK’s four nuclear warhead-carrying submarines at HM Naval Base Clyde, Faslane, west of Glasgow, Scotland on April 29, 2019. – A tour of the submarine was arranged to mark fifty years of the continuous, at sea nuclear deterrent. (Photo by James Glossop / POOL / AFP)
Those Brits just can’t get it out of their system, can they? A shocking revelation printed in The Times claims that Gavin Williamson – who lost his job as the Defence Secretary last week – was hellbent on sending British troops into four African countries.
Who is Gavin Williamson?
The Conservative MP ended up losing his job over a scandal involving the Chinese mobile phone behemoths, Huawei. It’s alleged – by Prime Minister Theresa May, no less – that Williamson leaked information about their involvement in the rollout of 5G networks in Britain.
May then referred the matter to the police, but they have concluded that no charges can be brought against the disgraced politician.
The plot to “invade Africa”
Amid this controversy, the floodgates opened for Gavin Williamson’s detractors. As well as being roundly criticised by opposition parties, one Ministry of Defence official claimed that he was “finding excuses” to deploy the army to certain countries on the African continent:
“Williamson was trying to find excuses to send troops. He wanted to invade countries in Africa. He made it clear that he was keen to send the troops in.”
MoD source on Gavin Williamson
So, who made Gavin Williamson’s alleged hit list?
- Zimbabwe
- Nigeria
- Kenya
- Egypt
Gavin Williamson denies “African invasion” claims
Not one for taking things on the chin, Williamson has already hit back at the claims made by the Sunday reports. He told The Guardian that this was a case of a “classic smear campaign” orchestrated by Prime Minister May.
“I find it very disturbing that [Downing Street] is leaking confidential information in order to try and smear me. This goes to show that they had no evidence to justify the actions the prime minister took last week.”
Gavin Williamson
It has since been confirmed that Penny Mordaunt, the Minister for Women and Equalities, would replace Williamson and become Britain’s first female defence minister while continuing in her current role. She seems less keen on restarting the UK’s colonial empire, so we guess that’s a step in the right direction.
